News Digest — 2/2/22
Bennett: IDF To Use Laser System To Intercept Rockets Within A Year
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced at the 15th annual international conference of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) the launch of a new missile interception system.
“Within a year or so, the IDF will launch a laser interception system, initially experimentally and later operationally. First in the south and then other places,” Bennett said.
He added, “This will allow us, in the medium to long term, to surround Israel with a laser wall that will protect us from missiles, rockets, UAVs and other threats, and in fact, take from the enemy the strongest card it has against us.”
“The equation will be reversed – they will invest a lot and we will invest little. If it is possible to intercept a missile or rocket with an electric pulse that costs a few dollars, we are essentially nullifying the fire ring that Iran has set up on our borders. This new generation of Israeli air defense can also serve our friends in the region, who are also exposed to severe threats from Iran and its emissaries,” the prime minister said.
Referring to the nuclear talks in Vienna, Bennett said, “This is the definition of negotiating under fire. No agreement will bind us to act for our defense. The campaign to weaken Iran has begun. The Israeli strategy remains the same in the event of an agreement, which in any case buys a very limited amount of time, even if there is no agreement. In both cases, our campaign will continue,” he added.
On relations with the US he said, “The United States has been and will remain our best friend, but Washington has its own set of interests, which we must honestly admit do not always overlap with ours. Its interest in the region is dwindling – its eyes are currently focused on the Russian/Ukrainian border and it is in strategic conflict with China. In the geopolitical arena there is no vacuum, a place that is vacated is immediately occupied. The United States’ place in the region can be filled, G-d forbid, with forces of terror and hatred, and Israel can fill it as well.”
Is Israel Ready To Supply Iron Dome To The UAE?
In the wake of a missile attack launched during President Isaac Herzog’s landmark visit to Abu Dhabi, apparently by the Iran-backed Houthis, Israel is reportedly planning to advance the sale of missile defense systems to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Channel 13 news reported Monday (1/31) that talks were underway for the sale of a number of weapons systems to the UAE, which would both warn of incoming fire and intercept it. Abu Dhabi is currently operating a South Korean missile defense system.
The report said the sale of the Iron Dome missile defense system to the UAE could mark the beginnings of a regional defense system that would help give Israel advance warning of any potential attack by Tehran.
However, according to Channel 12 news, a decision has not yet been made by Israel whether the Iron Dome system will be sold to the UAE or to Saudi Arabia. Israel has denied previous reports that it has already provided Riyadh with the defense system.
A ballistic missile was fired at Abu Dhabi on Sunday (1/30), apparently by the Houthis, an Iranian-backed Yemen group. The missile was intercepted and the UAE’s defense ministry said there were no injuries or damage, with the remnants of the missile falling in unpopulated areas.
It was the third attack on the Emirates this month. Three foreign workers were killed in the first assault on January 17, while the second, a week later, was intercepted.
While Israeli analysts are not said to believe the attack, using a relatively inaccurate missile, was directly targeting Herzog, a spokesman for the Houthis said it was meant to send a message from the Iran-backed group about ties between the UAE and Israel.
“Our attack proves that the UAE is not safe as long as it continues to be in the service of the Zionist enemy in Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” the spokesman said, according to Channel 12 news.
The UAE is part of a Saudi-led military coalition that supports Yemen’s government against the Houthis. In 2019, the UAE withdrew its troops from Yemen, but it remains an influential player.
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa, prompting Saudi-led forces to intervene to prop up the government the following year.
Israel and the UAE forged ties in the United States-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020, bringing over a decade of covert contacts into the open, and have seen their relationship flourish since then.
Report: Israel Air Force Drilled ‘Massive Attack On Iran’ In Presence Of US Officer
A US official attended a classified Israel Air Force Drill simulating a “massive attack” on Iran’s nuclear program that was held two weeks ago, according to a Tuesday report (1st).
A US Air Force officer participated in the drill as an observer, Israel’s Kan public broadcaster said.
The drill involved dozens of jets and included various scenarios, including mid-air refueling, long-range strikes and responses to anti-aircraft missiles.
The unusual participation of a US official was touted by the report as evidence of a shift in the American approach to Iran’s nuclear program as negotiations for a nuclear deal have appeared to falter.
A US State Department official told reporters on Monday (1/31) that the window of opportunity for reaching a potential deal with Iran was closing.
“Iran’s nuclear deal is advancing. A deal will become irrelevant in a few weeks,” he said, noting that this has been made clear to Iran, as well as to other parties participating in the talks in Vienna.
Israel, which has largely opposed the agreement, has said that it reserves the right to take military action to protect its citizens regardless of what happens in Vienna.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Tuesday (1st) that “the campaign to weaken Iran” would be waged on a number of fronts. Speaking at the Annual International Conference of the Institute for National Security Studies, he said Israel has to prepare for a world that doesn’t have only one policeman, and recognizes that America is focused on Russia and China, “That’s the reality,” said Bennett.”
Iran has called Israel’s military exercises and rhetoric against its nuclear program “empty threats” and has responded with military drills meant to serve as a deterrent to Israel.
An unverified report last week said the drill was carried out over the Mediterranean and involved “an unusually large” contingent of F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighter craft, as well as Boeing mid-air refueling tankers.
The use of Israel’s aging mid-air refueling fleet would be a strong indication that Israel is planning for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, or that it is seeking to project the image to Tehran and the rest of the world that it is preparing to do so.
Israel has reportedly approved a budget of $1.6 billion to be used to prepare the military for a potential strike against Iran’s nuclear program.
It includes funds for various types of aircraft, intelligence-gathering drones and unique armaments needed for such an attack, which would have to target heavily fortified underground sites.
Because of the distance, carrying out an airstrike inside Iran and having enough fuel for the return trip would require Israeli planes to refuel in the sky or find a friendly airbase in which to land.
A report in The New York Times last month, however, indicated that Israeli plans for a possible strike on Iran had been set back by delays in the delivery of eight new Boeing KC 47 supertankers, with consignment expected to take until late 2024 at least. The $2.4 billion deal for the eight planes was signed in March 2021.
Current and former officials quoted in the report said Israeli military planners believe that any strike on Iran will likely require multiple sorties against some sites, such as the underground Fordow uranium enrichment facility, necessitating speedy refueling.
(timesofisrael.com; kan.org.il)
Outrage Over Anti-Israel Report Could Cost Amnesty Its Tax-Exempt Status
Amnesty International accused Israel on Tuesday (1st) of subjecting Palestinians to a system of apartheid founded on policies of “segregation, dispossession and exclusion” that it said amounted to crimes against humanity, prompting outrage across the board.
The London-based rights group said its findings were based on research and legal analysis in a 211-page report into Israeli seizure of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer of people and denial of citizenship.
“Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has pursued a policy of establishing and maintaining its control over land to benefit Jewish Israelis while restricting the rights of Palestinians and preventing Palestinian refugees from returning to their homes,” Amnesty said. “Israel extended this policy to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which it has occupied ever since.”
Israel said the report, the second by an international rights group in less than a year to accuse it of pursuing a policy of apartheid, “consolidates and recycles lies” from hate groups and was designed to “promote anti-Semitism.”
“Its extremist language and distortion of historical content were designed to demonize Israel and pour fuel onto the fire of anti-Semitism,” the Foreign Ministry said Monday (1/31).
In the wake of the report, right-wing organization Btsalmo called on Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman to drop Amnesty International’s tax-exempt status in Israel.
According to the advocacy group, the goal of the tax exemption is to allow Israelis to donate to worthy public causes in lieu of their owed taxes. “Does the finance minister believe that defaming and boycotting Israel is a worthy public cause that Israelis should fund,” the organization wrote in a public letter to Lieberman through its lawyer Michael Litvak.
Litvak further claimed that Amnesty has repeatedly called for boycotting Israel and even for an arms embargo on the Jewish state. Amnesty further helped the United Nations in formulating blacklisted entities beyond the Green Line.
NYPD Arrests Brooklyn Man Who Punched Hasidic Student In The Face
The New York Police Department’s Hate Crimes Task Force has arrested a man accused of punching a Hasidic man in the face early on Saturday, January 22nd in Crown Heights.
Babyson Dumervil, a 24-year-old from Brooklyn, has been charged with assault.
In the wake of the early Shabbat morning attack – in which Dumervil crossed a street and punched a 21-year-old Hasidic man in the face at Troy Ave. and Carroll St. – The Anti-Defamation League offered up to $5,000 for information about the person responsible for the attack.
According to Crown Heights Info, the victim was identified as a yeshiva student; his eyeglasses were broken and his face was lacerated in the unprovoked attack.
Dumervil’s arrest follows the apprehension of a suspect in another high-profile anti-Semitic incident in Brooklyn in January: On January 14, a woman approached three Jewish children in the Marine Park neighborhood, spat on one child and told them: “Hitler should have killed you all.”
The following week, the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force arrested Christina Darling, 21. She faces charges of menacing and aggravated harassment – both hate crimes – as well as acting in a manner injurious to a child.
